


Hello.

by flyingthesky



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Gen, Languages and Linguistics, Nobodies (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Not A Fix-It, like the opposite actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-02
Updated: 2008-08-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23092963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingthesky/pseuds/flyingthesky
Summary: You say it and you mean it, but what does it mean?





	Hello.

Demyx had never really thought about it before. He said it all the time, with a wave and a smile, to anyone he happened to pass in the halls. It was older and even more ancient than Xemnas and stuffy old Kingdom Hearts. It was older than the musty, yellow-mustard, crumble-books that Zexion kept in the library. It was older than anything, really . . .

And he didn't even know what the fuck it meant.

So Demyx set out on a journey to figure out just what it meant. Going down the list, he skipped Xemnas because he was fawning about Kingdom Hearts (again!) and Xigbar because the last time he had asked Xigbar about something, Larxene had chased him out of the castle and into the rain. Not that he minded, because he liked rain, but still. He could do without the Larxene, thank you very much. Xaldin was out of the question, because he always referred Demyx to Xigbar and Vexen was just . . . Vexen didn't speak in English very often. Vexen mostly spoke complicated scientific garble.

Lexaeus, well. Demyx supposed he could ask Lexaeus but, to be perfectly truthful, Lexaeus scared him. A lot. And then Saix was totally out of the question because, well, _Saix_. Then Luxord never let Demyx ask any questions before a game of cards and he always ended up naked because Luxord only played Strip Poker with Demyx, who had a sneaking suspicion Luxord liked seeing him naked. Marluxia made him sneeze usually, Larxene was scary and every time Demyx asked Roxas a question it ended up in sex.

How was beyond him, but it happened like that.

So that left Axel and Zexion. And Axel was . . . Well, Axel was chasing Marluxia around for some reason so that really just left Zexion. Which was kind of sad, because Zexion probably wasn't going to answer his question and this really just left him where he had been when he began. But he was wandering over to Zexion's lab and knocking on the door before slowly pushing it in.

"Ze—VI?"

"Yes?"

Demyx stepped just inside the door and shut it behind him. He looks around nervously before he walks forward.

"VI, what's the . . . Meaning of _hello_?"

"An expression or gesture of greeting—used interjectionally in greeting, in answering the telephone, or to express surprise."

It was said in that voice Demyx hated so much. The one Zexion used when he blandly repeated dictionary definitions . . . Demyx sighed. That hadn't been what he meant. He wanted to know the _meaning_ , not the words the dictionary used to describe it. He wanted to know why someone decided that _hello_ was a way to greet people. Why it had come into existence, why it was what—

"I see you are displeased with my answer."

"Yeah . . . That wasn't really what I meant. Sorry for bothering you, I'll go ask Roxas."

He bowed his head before turning around and turning the doorknob.

"Wait."

It's not really a command, the word hesitant and unsure, but Demyx stops anyway.

"It . . . It doesn't mean anything at all."

"Like us?"

His hand still on the doorknob, still holding it turned, Demyx asks the door a question. Because he can't bear to turn around and ask it of a real person. And, of course, the door doesn't respond because it's a door and _really_. He couldn't ask that much of any inanimate object. Zexion, however, does respond.

"You could say that."

There is a long, long pause during which Demyx wants to cry because _this_? This is what he was afraid of. He was afraid of what he thought being spoken, turned into tangible words. It was the real reason Demyx didn't usually ask question of Zexion. His art of illusion could also disillusion and honestly? Demyx hated that more than fire or lightning or pollen that went up his nose and planted seeds in his head.

"But you could also say that it means even less than we do."

That made Demyx turn around. He had never, in all this time, heard Zexion say anything but bland, scientific fact in a bland, scientific voice. That . . . That had almost sounded _human_.

"H-how so?"

"At least we haven't had the time to atrophy into nothing—like whatever meaning _hello_ once had."

Demyx laughs at that. He laughs because they are atrophying and he can feel his heart die, die, die to the sounds of footsteps. With every step he takes, there are less memories and even less of the thing they all crave the most. Though he tries to carve a heart of the melodies he plays, though he tries to carve a heart from foolishly collected trinkets . . . Though he tries to carve a heart from greedily hoarded kisses and touches, he cannot.

He maintains that they have hearts though. But he'll never tell them that he thinks their hearts die more the harder they try to obtain them.

"You're wrong."

It's a soft, almost inaudible whisper. Zexion, of course, hears it clearly.

"I know."

And the moment is perfect, as perfect as any facsimile can be, before something crashes nearby and Demyx can hear the muffled yelling of Axel and Marluxia. Vaguely, he hears Roxas too. He takes a deep breath before turning the doorknob completely and pushing the door open ever so slightly. He looks over his shoulder and smiles. It doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Thanks."

With that, Demyx slips through the door and Zexion swears that he was an illusion after all. He can feel his heart die a little more.


End file.
